His Lost Princess
by 72Bobby13
Summary: Daniel is forced to throw a ball. His past becomes present and has questions to be answered. Clair was forced in to hiding, her captor has her believe that it's best to be declared dead. When she finds an old friend, she sees how much she has been lied to but still keeps the secret of her past in order to be safe. Cody watches from within, waiting for inevitable war. In-progress
1. Chapter 1

Prologue: 10 years in the past.

Prince Daniel was sitting on his throne. For a 9 year old, he was more in touch with went on around him than others. It was only him and his two personal body guards. He was known throughout many kingdoms that he was the strongest young boy there was. Within the year, he would be old enough to join the royal military and then he would experience a real battle. It was the longest lasting traditions through his kingdom that the prince should be in the royal military for at least 3 years before he is given the throne. The Prince, unless his parents were to die, wouldn't be allowed to ascend to the throne until he was 20 at least. The prince found himself sitting in this room a lot lately and just to let his mind wander. "Sire, I hear rumors of the castle of Aqua being stormed tonight." His most trusted body guard said as he was getting tired of his prince just coming in here and sitting. The silence was almost deafening.

The Prince looked to his right, at his body guard. His statement brought Daniel out of his thoughts and into new ones. The Aqua Kingdom was the closest kingdom to theirs. From the castle, it would only be a day's journey if traveled by horse. His parents, the King and Queen, had befriended the Aqua King and Queen. They had even had a daughter that Daniel was friends with. The princess there didn't know it yet, for she was only 7 years of age, but they were betrothed and were to marry when they had both become of age. If, of course, Prince Daniel could win the Princess's heart in that time. "Does my father know of this?"

The guard shook his head. "They are only rumors and I didn't know if they were true or not."

The prince looked at his other guard. "Go and tell my father of this. He may be able to get in touch with them if the rumors are true, then the king and Queen will be safe and so will my princess." The guard, known as Jake, had nodded and left to find the King. Daniel then turned to his more trusted guard. "You are to go and ride by horse to their castle. If it is true, then you are to find the princess and make sure she is safe."

"Yes Sire."

"If she is with her body guard, then you shall work with them. I want to see her tomorrow alive and well. Their guards will know that you are my guard and will help. Now go. There is no time to lose."

"Yes Sire." The prince's most trusted and most faithful guard, named Cody, started for the door. As his guard left, the prince stood and decided that he needed to see his mother. She had found out that she was pregnant a month ago and he started to be around her more. He felt some sort of connection with the baby growing inside her but couldn't understand it yet.

* * *

Cody had arrived at the palace with an hour or two to spare as he saw the people beginning to riot and gather in the village closest to the castle. He had time to warn the king and Queen if they hadn't already been warned and he had time to take the princess back to his prince's castle as he was ordered to, if he wanted to that is. He found the secret getaway door at the back of the castle and had gotten in and waited until night fall to do anything. This night would be one to celebrate for Cody. All was going to happen as planned."

* * *

"Good Night sunshine. Sweet dreams." Her mother told her as she left the table to go to bed. Her body guard Ross followed her to her room and stayed there until she had fallen asleep. He then closed the balcony door and closed the curtains as he was supposed to after the princess fell asleep. Ross went out of the room to the kitchen to now eat his dinner and sleep.

It was about an hour later and the princess was fast asleep dreaming wonderful dreams when the sound of an explosion went off. She sat up, not wide awake and with fear running through her, she went to the balcony to see what was going on. When she saw the flames being set on her castle, she panicked and ran back to her bed's safety and under the blanket. She started hearing yelling from outside. Small three and four letter words she only heard the guards use were now echoing in her she unwillingly listened to the outside, she heard footsteps coming down the hall, echoing throughout the hallway and getting louder and heavier as they sped up. They stopped outside of her door and her door busted open. "Princess!" It was Ross. He sounded worried and he quickly walked over to her bed. With her blanket wrapped around her, Ross picked her up into his arms and started heading out the door. "Princess, we must get you to safety. Your castle is under attack." Princess Clair opened her eyes wide open. Did she hear him right? Under attack? By who? She wanted the answers but he couldn't make a sound, as her body was still mostly paralyzed with fear."Your parents." He paused and then looked around the corner they approached to make sure it was safe. "Are dead."

Now she found the ability to speak. "What?" She asked as tears started to form in her eyes. Her parents are dead? It couldn't be. It was impossible.

"I must get you to safety. You are to live with your mother's sister. She isn't well known and lives on the out skirts of the kingdom. You will be safe there. The King and Queen of Mel will be contacted by your aunt tomorrow." He was running down the halls. When they were almost to the secret exit, someone came around the corner. "Cody, Thank goodness you're here." Ross had a sigh of relief when he realized that it was Prince Daniel's guard that was the man in front of them. "Is it safe out there? Is the horse ready?"

"Oh, it's ready but it's not safe for you. Not out there, not even in here." Ross looked confused at Cody until he saw the gun in his hand as he raised it up. "Good bye Body guard." He said as he shot Ross in the neck, causing a fatal wound. As Ross fell to the floor, Princess Clair was dropped and she scooted to the nearest wall so her back was against the wall. She was curled up in the fetal position trying to protect herself. Her personal body guard was just killed trying to save her. "And hello princess Clair." He said smugly. His smirk was deadly, it seemed to Clair. "Don't worry, if you cooperate with me, you will see the daylight of tomorrow and even a few years after that." He held out his hand to pull her to her feet but Clair just looked at it. "Come on, your'e a princess. You can't be shy." Clair looked into his eyes. He was evil. She could tell that but there was something different about him. She hesitantly took the out reached hand and he, not so genitally, pulled her up. "My name is Cody."

Darkness came over her after he spoke those words. Cody took the unconscious girl out the secret doorway and got on his horse. They rode to his small house on the border to the two kingdoms and gave her to his house maid. She then put her on the top bunk of the bed as she slept on the bottom bunk.

* * *

Prince Daniel woke to a gleam of sunlight coming through his curtains and his thoughts immediately went to the safety of his princess. He sat up in his bed and quickly dressed. He went to his most trusted guard who was in the dining room. He looked pitiful. This wasn't helping the prince's hope. "Cody." He said in a demanding tone.

"I'm sorry sire. The rumors were true and I got there after it had started. Jake said that he couldn't find the King until late that night but it was too late. I had looked all over for the princess but couldn't find her. I did however find her bodyguard who had gotten shot in the neck. He had lost lots of blood and was quickly dying. The people who stormed the castle can't seem to find her either. There is no trace of her. I'm sorry I didn't get there in time." He bowed his head at his prince. Prince Daniel didn't like this news but it gave him some hope that his princess was still out there. She was just waiting for him to save her.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: 5 years in the past

"What?" Prince Daniel was sitting at the table eating his dinner when his guard had said that he had urgent news to tell him. "Can't you see that I'm eating? Cody, you know that I don't like to talk while I'm eating."

"I know sire but You will want to hear this."

"Good or bad?" Daniel knew by the tone in his voice that it probably wasn't good.

"Bad Sire. I'm sorry."

"Then it can wait. I don't want to be-" He was cut off by Cody.

"Sire, it's about Princess Clair." Cody said urgently enough to convince the Prince in front of him.

Prince Daniel slowly placed his fork down. His head racing with both thoughts and feelings that he had tried to hide for 5 years now. Then it occurred to him that his guard said that it was bad news that was about to be given. "What about her?" He asked hesitantly, hoping for the best and fearing the worst.

"Her body has been found. I'm sorry Your highness, she was found dead. People say that it looked like her body had been put there. She had only recently died."

"Where was she found?"

"At the front gates of the reconstructed palace." The Prince's eyes opened wide and then he stood up. "Sire, What are we to do?"

"We are to give her a proper Aqua funeral." He said as he walked quickly to his room. She was dead. That meant that there was no hope of him finding her alive and well. All hope was lost in marrying her. She was now taken away and he could no longer see her beautiful, ocean like eyes that started into his sole and only saw the best in him. Ever since that morning that he had found out about her disappearance, he had had troops go out and look for her. For five years they had been looking and now she had just been found, recently killed, and so she had been waiting for him to come and rescue her for five years. He had gone out on many search missions himself and never wanted to go back to the castle until they found her. He had held it all in until he got to his room and closed the door on his guard's face. He had fallen there, with his back against the wall, he put his head in the palms of his hands and tears flowed down his face. They were silent tears and so he didn't make a noise but that was only because he was in such a shock. He couldn't make noise. When he found the ability to control his feelings again, he had gone further into his room and then flopped down on his bed and didn't ever want to get up. No one could make him get up until it was time for her funeral. He hoped that he could control himself there so he wouldn't break down in front of everyone. Not many people would be allowed there but he still didn't want anyone to see him like this. He had been in the military for years now and had seen many of his men die in combat and he didn't cry. He had seen fallen warriors of the enemy and didn't cry. He had seen the soldiers that survived but were permanently wounded and had to live the rest of their life and didn't cry for anyone but he was crying for her. The girl who had made his life interesting. The princess that had seen him for both good and bad and challenged him both mentally and physically. He would always remember the blue haired princess that had made an imprint on his life. He would give her the proper funeral of her people. She would be turned into ashes and then there would be a ceremony and then her ashes would be spread along the coast of the sea. He didn't know if any of her relatives were still alive and so he would have his guard Jack look at all of the records of any relatives that the princess may have now though, he would mourn the loss of his princess.

* * *

The next day, The prince had ordered that her funeral would be in a week. When her body arrived, he took one look and saw that she had changed in the five years. She would have been fourteen and time had been good to her. He had only taken that look. He hadn't said anything in fear that he would break down again but when he left, he had begun the preparations for her funeral. Right now, he was sitting on one of the many roofs of the castle. He had dismissed his guards for the next two days and in the mean time, he would have the substitute guards. They weren't going to report to him till morning and so he was alone. He felt more alone right now than ever but his guards wouldn't fix it. It would only make him feel even more lonely. "Daniel?" He heard a small voice say in almost a whisper. "What are you doing up here?"

"I must ask you the same."

"I was looking for you." The owner of the voice sat down next to him.

"Jess, you know that for 5 years now I've been troubled." The little girl nodded. "They found her body. The princess that disappeared a few months before you were born." The little girl wrapped her arms around the older boy next to her.

"If you need me, I'll always be here for you." She knew that the prince had been obsessed with finding this 'lost princess'. She only had heard stories. Princess Jessica looked up at her older brother. "Daniel?"

"Jess?" He asked, not turning to her.

"What are you going to do now?"

"I don't know. There is one thing that I do know though."

"What's that?"

"I'm never going to let anyone take my little sister away like they did Clair." He leaned over to his younger sister. "Promise me Jess, if you ever get in a situation like that, you will try and find your way back to me as soon as you could. I don't want to lose you."

"I will." She didn't question what he was saying because she knew that the 'lost princess' didn't know that she was to wed her older brother. Jess didn't know much about the 'lost princess of Aqua' but she had heard the stories of their castle getting demolished and then rebuilt in a new name. She had even met the new king and Queen for that kingdom that now stands where the Kingdom of Aqua once was. The new Kingdom was called Fira She didn't like them and she knew that her brother didn't like them either.

They sat there in silence for an hour or so and then the Prince stood. "We best get to sleep. Come on." He said as he picked up his little sister that had no energy to argue with him. He took her to her room and then gave her to her nanny who put her to bed. He then went back to his room and fell on his bed and fell asleep. His only escape of the real world's problems were his dreams that were memories of him with princess Clair when they were young.

* * *

"I'm what?!" Moon asked as Cody had just told her what news would be spreading. He had just come home and had asked her to come to his study. He then began to explain that she would be declared dead. "Why?"

"Well, Princess Clair is no more right? She hasn't been for about 5 years now. Everyone thinks it anyway. You're not Princess Clair anymore and you know that. You are now Moon Hills. You have been for 5 years so why should it affect you that Princess Clair is pronounced dead?"

"Why do I have to hide that I am a Princess? I don't want to be declared Dead!" She yelled just as the door to Cody's study opened. Ju stood there wide-eyed. She hadn't known of Moon's real identity but now that she found out, moon began to wonder what would happen to her. And if Ju would be mad at her for not telling her.

"What do you want?" Cody asked becoming angry and the thought that he might have to get rid of his maid crossed his mind.

"I came in to tell you that dinner is ready." Ju said as she looked from Cody to who she thought to be Moon. Now she began to wonder.

"Go to your room and don't repeat anything you have heard from this room!" Moon looked at Ju and they held eye contact until Ju had to leave. "Now, you aren't going to tell anyone that you are the princess of the long gone and almost forgotten kingdom. Anyone that you were close to back then will now think that you are dead. You have gotten through 5 years of school now without anyone knowing who you are, it's better this way."

"Don't they need a body?"

"Apparently, they have found one that seemed to have enough resemblance to you that they thought that it was you. You may not go to that funeral and you aren't going to tell anyone. Now, thanks to your yelling, I must now go and explain to Ju what it was all about."

"No!" Moon grabbed his arm, which he shook off. "Please. Let me. I'll explain it to her and she won't tell anyone. Please!"

"Fine but if she does tell anyone-"

"She won't." She then left and went to where Ju was. She opened the door to their shared bedroom and saw Ju sitting on the bottom bunk with her head in her hands looking like she was thinking. "Ju?"

She looked up and then back down. "Who are you?"

"Come one Ju. You know me."

"No, I don't."

"Ju, I may have a different name but I'm the same person that you've known for 5 years."

"What's your real name?"

"I'm the lost princess of Aqua. My Name is Princess Clair Moon of the Aqua kingdom."

Ju's eyes widened. "We have to tell people. Oh my goodness, we've been hiding the princess here for 5 years. Wait, wait, wait. When I walked in, you said that you didn't want to be declared dead. Why? Are you in danger? Is Cody going to kill you?"

"Hold your horses. Ju," She said seriously, "We can't tell anyone. If we do, I will be killed by those people who killed my parents. Apparently, they found someone who looks a lot like me and about the same age. She died a few days ago and when people found the body, they thought it was me. I'm safest like this. They have been searching for me for the past 5 years. If we tell them that I'm still alive, they will kill me on the spot. Cody has kept me hidden for my safety."

Ju looked at her both with confusion and concern. Ju knew that Cody wasn't that nice. There had to be something that he would get out of hiding her from the public. It was true though, many soldiers have passed by, many times, over the past five years looking for her. Ju didn't want them to take her away now, and if Cody said that they were there to kill her, that's what was going on. Neither of the two females had any doubt that they would have taken her away permanently. Ju didn't know if she would be killed but Ju had grown to love this girl, almost as a daughter and didn't want to see her leave. "Ok. I won't tell anyone." Knowing that Moon, or Clair, or whatever she wanted to be called, was a princess, would change something's but Ju would try her best to act the same way she always had towards this girl. "So, what do you want to be called?"

"My name is now Moon Hills. You call me Moon. Thank you for understanding."

"If it's for your safety, I would do anything." Ju smiled at Moon and then they both went to eat. Cody would have most likely eaten his food by now, or at least he would have gone to his study with his food to eat there. The rest of the night, was mostly silent and Moon had woken up many times because of her dreams. She would dream about her funeral and how it wasn't really her and she showed up but no one believed her that she was still alive.


	3. Chapter 3

Present day

Prince Daniel was sitting on his bed. He had just woken up, thanks to his guard who hesitantly disturbed his sleep because one of the two people that had power over the prince ordered him to. That was about 15 minutes ago. His mother had wanted him to eat breakfast with her. He, on the other hand, really didn't want to. There was most likely going to be Britney there with his mother. Britney had come into his life 6 years ago and when she realized that she couldn't get through to Daniel to like her, 2 years afterwards, she attached her sights on the Queen. The Queen had taken an instant liking to Britney and insisted that she come along for most of the many occasions worth celebrating. She was the Queen's choice for him to wed. The King, had also chosen a few that he had wanted his son to marry but he didn't like them any more than he liked Britney. Ever since he had found out that Princess Clair had died, females tried to catch his eye but he knew that they were all the same. They all wanted something and he wasn't one of them. They wanted to be a princess. Their fathers wanted their girls to have power. She wanted to have money and live like a royal does. They never wanted him, for who he was. He had 10 minutes to get down to the dining room or else he'll get yelled at by his mother. He had already told his guard that he wouldn't go down there if Britney was down there. He had come back saying that his mother insisted that he was to spend time with his future bride. He rolled his eyes at that. He was NOT going to marry that girl. He had told his mother that many times but she wouldn't listen.

He stood up and then walked to his bathroom and took a shower. It was 15 minutes later that he had gotten out and was dressed. When he left his room, both of his guards had been standing next to the door waiting for him. "Jake, go and tell my mother that I will come down once that wench is gone." His guard nodded at him and walked to the dining room. The prince then walked the opposite way.

"Prince, may I ask where is it that we are going?"

"Jess's room." He was walking down the long hallways to his sister's room and then the thought that he had been contemplating for a while now popped into his head. "Cody, when you leave here, what do you go home to?" He had realized a week or so ago that while his guard knew almost everything about him, he knew little to nothing about his guard that had been his guard for almost all of his life.

"I have a small home just outside this kingdom and I live with my maid and daughter."

"I didn't know that you had a daughter."

"I tend to leave my personal matters at home and not work Sire."

"Do you have a special woman?"

"No, she had died almost 18 years ago giving birth to my daughter."

"I'm sorry."

"It's ok. You have nothing to be sorry for. It was a long time ago and even though she still has that special place in my heart, I see her in my daughter every day."

"What's your daughter's name?"

"Moon."

Daniel nodded and then looked at the two guards standing at his sister's door. "She's currently sleeping sire."

He nodded and then quietly opened the door. He looked at the 9-year-old's sleeping form. Her nanny was setting out her outfit for the day and the prince sat next to the sleeping form and placed his hand on his sister's shoulder. He quickly blocked the punch to his face from the sleepy little girl. She noticed that it was her brother and sat up in her bed, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "I feel sorry for the fella that tries to wake you up with a kiss."

"And I feel sorry for the woman that wakes up to your face." She yawned after she said that. "What do you want anyway?"

He knew that his sister had a bad night the night before. He did too but not because of her. She had ran to his room at least three times the previous night because of nightmares. The prince wasn't even sleeping when she did that. He was up trying to finish some lousy paperwork. He had started to take on some of the roles of the king to help his father and to get ready to become king himself. His father was still a well and able man so he didn't feel the need to pass on the throne to his son yet. His son didn't need all of the work right now anyway. "Well, good morning to you too sunshine." He said sarcastically. "How would you like to try and get rid of someone this morning."

The little girl's eyes lit up. "What do I do?" Jessica shared her hatred for their mother's choice for her brother's future wife. She loved to scare her away and making her want to puke. It was fun for the little girl to torture someone who wasn't worthy.

"Nothing special, I just need to talk to mother. Get her away."

"Ok." She said as she jumped out of bed and headed for the door.

"Wait a minute, you need to get dressed. You're still in your night gown."

"Fine." She said as she went to her bathroom. The prince left the room and then leaned against the wall across from her door.

"Sire? Your mother really wants you down there."

"I'm already late Jake. It won't hurt to be a few more minutes. It's not like it's important anyway." Jake nodded. They waited until the door of the room opened and Princess Jessica came out. "You ready?"

"Yep." The prince grabbed his little sister's hand and then walked to the dining room where his mother was and Britney was most likely to be. When they went through the already open double doors, Jessica ran to her mother. "Mommy, mommy."

"Hello daughter. It's nice to see you up and going like this after what happened last night." The Queen said happily to her daughter. "Daniel? What has made you take your precious time down here? I do recall telling your guard twice that I wanted to see you down here."

"I wanted to check up on my sweet little sister." He said convincingly but Jess rolled her eyes at him. The Queen did not notice this and then looked at Britney for some help to get to her son.

"Look, sweetheart," Brittney began but was silenced by Prince Daniel when he raised his hand to stop her from going on.

"No, I'm not you're sweetheart or your betrothed or any of that shit. I would rather die without an heir than to marry the likes of you."

His mother stood up and looked at him with all seriousness in her voice. "Well, then. If you really feel that strongly about not marrying her, then I will throw a ball. You can invite anyone that you want." She then walked around to Britney. "The ball will be held in one month's time. By the end of that night, you must come up to me with the one you have chosen. If you don't, you will be officially betrothed to Brittney. I don't see why you wouldn't want to though. She is perfectly fit to rule the kingdom." Daniel wasn't fooled by his mother as much as his father was. His mother wanted as much control of the kingdom as she could get. "By your side of course." She said finishing her sentence almost as an afterthought.

"Mommy, I want to go into town today." Jessica said distracting her mother just to split the two apart.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I need to do some work with your father to discuss the details of the ball."

"Maybe Britney could take me." She put on a fake smile but the Queen couldn't tell.

"Oh, Princess Jessica, I think I have some prior engagement. I'm sorry but I can't. It actually starts soon I believe so I must take my leave." Britney hurriedly wiped the ends of her mouth and left.

"I'll take you Jess." Daniel said winking at his little sister. "Just get ready in your riding gear and meet me in the stables." Jess nodded and skipped off, down the hall. "Mother, I require a word."

"And what word might that be? I told your sister that I have pressing matters to attend to."

"I want the files on both of my guards."

"Why would you want that? They've already been checked out. Routine checking's happen every year. They are both highly qualified to be your guards and have done a great job of it for many, many years."

"I don't know, I guess that they know me so well that I want to learn some things about them."

"Why don't you just talk to them? I'm sure that they will hide nothing from you. Your access is denied and I encourage that you go and talk with them. You are going into town, what a great time it would be to have a chat with them." She said happily.

Daniel took a breath, bowing as he left his mother's presence. It didn't take long for him to change into his riding gear and go to the stables. His sister was already putting the blankets on his horse. "What was it that you needed to talk to mother about?"

"Something that I now need your help for."

"And…"

"I want both of my main guard's files."

"Why?"

"They know everything about me and I know almost nothing of them. I want to read up on them."

"And so you want me to get those files?"

"I'll get you anything you want at Hallie's."

"Really?" Her face brightened up. Hallie's is a jewelry store that she got almost all of her necklaces and bracelets.

"Any one thing." He repeated to get his point across.

"Ok." They then finished preparing their horses and rode with both of their own guards. Jessica's two guards were in front and Daniel's two were in the back. Daniel was on Jess's right and they all rode into town.

* * *

Moon walked into town. It was that day of the week that she had to take the day's journey to get the food and supplies. It had been three weeks since Cody had been back at the house and he was to return in another week or two. The girl had her hair up in an intricate design as so none of her blue hair was showing. Her hair was being continuously died black to cover up the blue it naturally was. Her blue hair went to her shoulders and then it was pure black from where the blue stopped to the small of her back. The young adult was continuously trying to find ways to have her hair so that she didn't have to dye it again. The dye was homemade and stayed without ever fading.

With two arms full of groceries and other needed supplies for the next week, she went to her last stop. Thankfully, she had made good friends with the owners and could put all of her things in the back for when she was there. It was time for lunch because when she got back to her house, it would be night fall and Ju would be serving dinner. "Hey Moon. It's been a while." Moon smiled and nodded at her friend.

"Two weeks. I've been in a hurry the past two times I've been in town. Do you have anything for me?"

"In a matter of fact, I do. It seems that George's sister saw you last week and wanted to talk to you. Of what I hear, she will be in town in three days. Kathy also has business with you. I would wait until George's sister gets into town though. She's been having relationship troubles and rumors have it that Sonny is breaking up with her and so she's going to be an emotional wreck today."

"Thanks for the heads up. I wish I could do something for her though."

"Why don't you ask Cody again?"

"Because I know the answer. He won't even let me come to school here in town."

"He can't hold you back for long though. You're 17, almost 18-years-old."

"Yeah, I don't know what I'm going to do then." The ex-princess sighed and sat down at the small round table. A glass of water was put into her hands and her good friend Chelsea. The blond sat in front of her and smiled.

"Well, you could always move out and live with me."

"Thanks but I could never leave Ju with Cody. I just don't trust him."

"It's sad, you know, I think you would trust him more if he were around more. I can't believe that a father leaves his daughter for weeks at a time and leaves you with Ju. I just think that's bad parenting. I'm glad that you are so independent though. If you weren't, I would report him. Do you even know where he works?"

"No clue. He's high up in the rankings at where he works though. I know that much."

"I'll do some research for you if you want. I do know people and have connections you know?"

"How could I not know? You know so many people that you gossip every time I see you and know things that I don't even know how you know. You can find out where he works or at least where he goes for weeks on end."

"Ok, I think that I have to go now. Customers need some help." The blond giggled and left. Moon sighed and looked at the bags that she has to take home. She would have to leave now or it would be completely dark by the time she got home.

Standing, she stretched and got all of the bags in her arms and walked out of the cool building and into the warm, sunny day.

* * *

Prince Daniel was coming up on the town and knew that Hallie's was on the other side of the town and so he decided to go around the town instead of riding through the crowded streets. As they were coming up on the middle of the town's borders, Cody recommended that the guards switch spots so the princess's guards would be in the back and his two guards in the front. Daniel didn't understand why but agreed and so the four guards switched places. They were now passing the side entrance to the town and Daniel saw a young lady with a cart full of bags walking out of the town. Her long black hair was up in a very intricate design. That was a sign of having a high ranking in society but he hadn't seen her before. She looked up at him and she had striking blue eyes. They reminded him of the blue waters of the river just outside the palace garden. The blackness of her hair didn't seem to fit her but he didn't know why. He couldn't picture any other color for her hair. They didn't stop but as he rode along, their eyes met and it seemed that the world had stopped, even for just a moment.

* * *

Moon was walking out of town when she heard horses. There were six in total. As she looked up more, she locked eyes with the male with spiky black hair with red highlights. She could swear that she had seen him before but couldn't place him in her memory. As they locked eyes, her heart started pounding hard. It was so loud that the ex-princess thought that he could hear it. His eyes were as black as his hair and they shined like the night sky with a full moon to light her way. They broke eye contact only because of one of the horses behind him. It was then that she saw a young girl looking at her, almost examining her for any faults. She then smiled, showing her pearly white teeth and Moon smiled back, giving a head nod to her the young girl that had her hair pulled back in a simple ponytail and had strands of hair behind her ears. By the looks of the horses alone, Moon could tell that they were either high nobles or royals. She hadn't a clue who the royals were in this kingdom, particularly because she hadn't a clue what kingdom they were in.

With knowing what happened to her kingdom, her birthright, she couldn't tell if they still lived in that kingdom or one of the neighboring ones. It was mostly because of the fact that Cody had never told her. She didn't bother to ask anyone in town either because they would wonder about her sanity. If she had been living here all of her life, as she and Cody had told everyone, how could she not know where she lived?

As they passed, she pulled along her wagon and began her long journey home. It was only mid day but night fall would be along soon and she needed to get home.

* * *

Daniel looked ahead when the eye contact broke. It seemed that he hadn't seen her at all. "She was pretty." Jess said smiling.

"Who?" asked Daniel, trying not to act as if he had seen the beautiful female.

"That girl back there. I like her hair."

"It's the same color as yours." He chuckled.

"No, I meant the blue. It was a pretty blue. It went with her eyes."

"Blue? What blue?"

"It was mostly black but I saw some blue. It looked like she was hiding it with the way her hair is though. I wonder why she would hide such a pretty color."

The Prince thought to himself trying to recall if there was blue in her hair but couldn't remember it. His mind traveled off to another who had blue hair. His lost princess, the one found dead five years ago. She had blue hair. It was some of the most beautiful hair he had ever seen. Despite the odd color, he found it beautiful and unique. He had decided that he was hopelessly in love with someone that could never be a long time ago. That didn't help him stop thinking about her though. As they all come up to the end of the town, they turned around and into the streets of people.

The small shop called Hallie's was close and so he and his sister got off of their horses. Her guards stayed outside and his two guards went in with him. The place was almost completely empty except for one blond female behind the counter. There was the sound of sobbing in the back and Daniel leaned so he could see in through the open door way. There was a light brown haired female, about the age of sixteen with her head in her hands and her chest heaving. She was the one crying. "Hello Prince Daniel and Princess Jessica. How lovely it is to see you." She said as sweetly as possible. It was obvious to him that she was just in the back trying to console the crying female. He looked down to his sister as she tugged on his arm.

"Do you hear that?"

"Yes, I do. Would you like to go help?" The little girl nodded her head. "Hallie, are we allowed in the back?"

"Yes, but I wouldn't go back there, she has quite the case of broken heart."

"Jessica wants to help."

The blond nodded and opened the small door that swings freely about waist high. The two then followed her to the back and saw the teen sniveling now. She looked up at both of them and instantly went to the floor and was now on her hands and knees, not caring about her dress getting dirty. "Your highnesses."

Jessica put her hand on the female's shoulder. "Would you please stand?" She did just that and wiped away her tears, smearing even more of her makeup on her face. The three then sat on the bench that the light brown haired female was sitting on before. "What troubles you so?"

"My boyfriend of two years broke up with me."

"What's his name?"

"Sonny."

"Well, this Sonny person just missed out on a very beautiful person." Jessica said with her arm around the older girl."

"Thanks. My name is Kathy by the way. Kathy Wilconson."

"It's nice to meet you Kathy. How old are you?"

Daniel laughed. "Jessica, you need to learn that asking a woman's age isn't that polite."

The little girl stuck her tongue out at her brother. "I don't care. I want to know."

"It's ok prince Daniel. I'm 16, 17 in three months."

The princess looked at her brother. He knew that he was reading her mind. She wanted him to ask her to the ball. He didn't know though. She wasn't old enough. It would be almost two years until she could live on her own. It was the continuous stare of his sister though that broke him. "Kathy?"

"Yes?"

"My mother is hosting a ball in a month at the castle and I'm wondering if you would like to go. You could bring a guest with you if you want."

"You're asking me to a ball?"

"Not as my date but as a guest. I'm supposed to be the one asking the guests personally."

"How will I know if they would let me in or not?"

"I'll remember your name. It will be on the guest list."

Arms went around his neck as she hugged him. "Thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you." She said repeatedly. The now happy woman jumped up and curtsied to the royals. "Thank you. I'm off to go and find a dress." She then ran out of the store with a smile that crossed from ear to ear.

"I guess you fixed her." Hallie said also smiling.

"You can come too if you want." Daniel said, though he knew that it wasn't for the reason that he should be inviting females. Hallie was almost ten years his senior.

"I don't have to be all formal do I?"

"Well, it is a ball…"

Jessica perked up. "What you're wearing right now would be fine."

"Thanks Jess. Now, I know the reason you came here wasn't so you could cheer up a broken hearted girl."

"That would be correct. I promised this little girl any one thing that she wants in this store."

"Alrighty then, let's get to shopping." She said and had Jess follow her to the main shop. Daniel slowly followed behind, taking time to look at some of the jewelry. Nothing caught his eye and so he went through the waist high door and looked at the shelves under glass. Still, nothing caught his eye but it seemed that his sister was having trouble trying to decide on one. It was then, across the room, that he saw something that was calling out to him. It was a silver dragon pendant with two diamonds as its eyes. The dragon was standing on another, slightly bigger diamond and was on a silver chain. He walked over to it and on shelves that were now in front of him. They were rings that had different jewels in them. They were all unique and dragon oriented. The one he liked most was the one that looked like a dragon claw around a heart cut ruby.

"Danny!" Jessica said excitedly jumping beside him. "I found it. I found what I want."

Daniel didn't particularly like the nickname she likes to call him but he allowed it only from her. Hallie came over with the choker that his sister decided on. It was an inch tall of a strong but stretchable black fabric with a raindrop shaped moonstone in the center and smaller, round sunstones in a line beside it and a black crystal hanging below the moon stone. "Is this it or do you have your sights on something?"

Daniel looked down at the ring again, and then to the necklace. Jessica was now at the other end of the store looking at her future possible purchases. "I have my eye on something but they don't seem to match. Is there any way you could change some gems?"

"Yeah. It wouldn't be a problem. What do you have in mind?" This is what Daniel liked about this particular store. Not only was it only a local store but it was almost all hand done and none of the jewelry was the same.

"I'm thinking of that necklace right there."

"The dragon sitting on the diamond?"

"Yeah. Is it possible to change the stones?"

"What to?"

"I want the eyes to be rubies. Then, I want it want be sitting on blue Zircon."

"Zircon?" She thought about it.

"If it's not possible, I understand."

"No, it's just I don't think I have any. I might have to send for some. It would take some time."

"That's ok, I don't plan to be coming out with anything but I will be coming back. When is the soonest that you could get it with my orders?"

"Um, the soonest it would be is about three weeks. I can have it done in about a month."

"That's fine. I'll be back two days before the ball and pick it up then. The ball is in exactly a month."

"Alright, so you said that they don't match. That deals with one thing. What's the other one that you were looking at?"

"The heart cut ruby in the dragon's claw."

"Is there anything you want to do to that?"

"It doesn't seem to be in my size I don't think." Hallie pulled out the ring and then looked at it.

"Yep, definitely isn't in your size. I'll have it resized. You could come back tomorrow and get it if you want."

"I'll come for it the same time as the necklace."

"That'll be fine too."

"Now, payment for Jess's necklace."

"It's on the house Daniel."

"No, I must pay you because you've earned it." He then pulled out a stack of bills. "How much is it?"

"I insist that it's on the house my prince. You two have already given me more than I already need from the other jewelry you have bought."

"I am asking how much it costs."

"Daniel."

"Hallie."

"Jessica!" The little girl yelled out joyfully now walking over to her brother. The two older people started to chuckle. "Now, Daniel, I want to pay her this time. You always get to do it."

"And what are you going to pay with?"

"Your money of course." She said as if it was so obvious. Daniel smirked and handed the large stack of bills to his sister. "Ok, I want to give you…" She started counting the money. "This many." She then handed a lump sum of cash to Hallie and then gave the rest back to her brother.

"Thanks Jess." Daniel mumbled. It was almost half of the stack but he wasn't going to complain that much.

"Jessica, I feel that this is too much."

"Nonsense. That is the perfect amount. I counted it myself."

"Then how much was there?"

"Ummm…" She stood there with innocent eyes. "I don't know but you earned it."

Hallie laughed a bit and then nodded. "Thank you Jessica. It's always a pleasure."

"Bye Bye!" Jessica waved as she and Daniel went back through the door and to the outside.

"Alright, back to the castle." Daniel said getting back on his horse.

"Are you sure sire?" Cody asked. "Is there anything else that you might need in town?"

Daniel thought for a minute. "What do you have in mind Cody?"

"I was just wondering so that you wouldn't need anything when we got back."

"I can't think of anything. So back to the castle it is." They rode back to the castle and Daniel couldn't get the eyes of the female out of his head.

* * *

Moon was about half way to her house and was coming up on a house she liked. It was a house of farmers that farmed the many acres of land. It was a large family that lived there and she had befriended the family. She was tired of walking and very thirsty and so she walked up to the door of the big house. "Hey Moon."

"Hey Kaysee."

"Come in." Kaysee had long and straight black hair that went to her upper back but was braided right now. "What are you doing here?"

Moon left her cart of things by the door and was relieved by the coolness of the indoors. "Not to impose but I am really thirsty and still need to get to my house by nightfall. Would you be willing to give me some water?"

"No problem." They then went to the kitchen and Kaysee had gotten Moon a glass of water.

"Thank you." They both sat at the small round table in the breakfast room. "So, where is everyone?"

"Mom's doing laundry, dad's teaching Tommy and Tyler how to plow the soil. Jennifer is out on a date and Julia, Jimmy and Mark are out with the horses."

"Ahh, so you have some piece and quite?"

"Once in a blue moon this happens." They both giggled. "Are you hungry? Mark got some fruit from the trees."

"No thanks. I have to get going. I'll come back tomorrow though with Ju and we could have a barbecue."

"That's a great idea. I'll go ask mom now."

Moon smiled and nodded. Patiently waiting as her friend ran out of the room. It was five minutes later that Kaysee came back smiling. "Mom thinks that's a great idea too. So I guess I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yes." The two then said their goodbyes and Moon left on her way home again.


End file.
